Fresh Veggies Day: Eat Healthy with Fresh Veggies

16th of June is celebrated as ‘Fresh Veggies Day’ every year. The day is celebrated to spread the universal message and create awareness about the benefits of eating fresh vegetables. This day also targets the concept of organic farming and promotes the health-related benefits of consuming organic vegetables.

The importance of consuming fresh food in the form of fruits and vegetables is very well explained in our Upanishads and Shastras. “You are what you eat” is an old saying. This is based on a teaching from our shastras including Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Bhagwad Gita, and the various Upanishads. To acquire health and happiness, one needs to live a balanced life. This typically comes from Bhagwad Gita chapter 6 shloka 17 where Krishna says to Arjuna “Yukaharaviharasya yuktachestasya karmasu. Yuktasvapnavabodhasya yoga bhavati duhkhaha”.

It means “the one, whose diet and movements are balanced, whose actions are proper, whose hours of sleeping and waking up are regular, and who follows the path of meditation, is the destroyer of pain or unhappiness.” The message is relevant even today, validated by modern scientific research and analysis of data.

Fresh food not only has a high level of nutritional content but also speeds up the process of digestion.

Why Do We Celebrate ‘Fresh Veggies Day’ in June Month?

The reason behind celebrating ‘Fresh Veggies Day’ in June is the availability of plenty of seasonal vegetables this month. These seasonal vegetables are unadulterated and free from chemicals due to their huge stock available in this season.

Some Benefits of Consuming Fresh Vegetables: 

1. Healthy and highly nutritious
2. They are easy to digest
3. Good for weight loss
4. They are free from preservatives, chemicals and dyes, which are generally used in packed food
5. Taste better when consumed fresh

Fresh vegetables can be included in our diet in either raw or cooked forms. 

Raw Form:

Raw vegetables have high nutritional content when compared to cooked ones. Raw vegetable consumption also aids in weight loss as the fat content is low in them. Raw vegetables, when consumed in the form of fresh juices, with their fibre intact, helps your body absorb vitamins and minerals fast. Drinking vegetable juice also reduces nutrient loss that occurs inside the body. 

Cooked form: 

If you are someone, who loves to have a flaky cooked meal, then consume the vegetables in their cooked form. Some cooking methods unlock more nutrients in fruits and vegetables, while the right type of heat is required to bring out the nutrients in some. A cooked meal in the form of sabzi and dal is one of the best ways to consume fresh vegetables. You can try your favourite vegetable meal and enjoy the process of cooking this ‘Fresh Veggies Day.’

So relish Fresh Veggies Day with fresh picked veggies and your body will like it.